Prof. Ayona Datta

I am Professor in Human Geography in University College London. I have expertise in undertaking theoretically informed, empirically rich research with cross cutting expertise in postcolonial urbanism, smart cities, urban futures, and gender citizenship. I was awarded the Busk Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in 2019 for my contributions to the understanding of smart cities through fieldwork.

I am delighted to receive the Busk Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), a senior award from the professional body of British Geographers for my international fieldwork on smart cities. As a scholar of and from the global south, this medal is not only a recognition of my…Continue reading “News and events”

I just received confirmation that my article for the Annals of the AAG titled “The ‘Smart Safe City’: Gendered time,…

Films, videos and podcasts

Is our understanding of urban infrastructure changing? Do we need to move beyond discussions about ‘smart cities’ and digital innovation? What pathways exist for the city of the future?

Please click here for British Academy film on ‘Habitat and Living in Plural Cities’. In conversation with Prof. Mathew Gandy and Prof. Simon Marvin.

Habitat and Living in Plural Cities

Malegaon, a small town near Nashik, Maharashtra, is driven solely by the power loom industry and is forgotten by the state and private sector since the bomb blasts of 2006. Through the eyes of its residents, local activists and civil society members, City Forgotten tells the story of Malegaon’s fall from the Manchester of India to a town in decline, where its women and minorities continue to aspire for and claim their constitutional rights to education despite the lack of any real prospects for its future generations.

City Forgotten

United Nations ECOSOC Talk

What do people mean when they talk about the ‘smart city’, and can the smart city ever be inclusive? In our second episode recorded in collaboration with The Sociological Review, Chantelle, Tissot and Saskia talk to Dr Ayona Datta about her work on urban transformations in Indian cities. Ayona argues that we need to be skeptical about whether smart cities can really address deep-rooted inequalities – smart water meters are useless if there’s no infrastructure for clean running water. Tissot tells us about the creative uses of smart technology by homeless people living in London’s financial district, showing that, although digital divides run across class lines, smart technology can change our cities in unplanned and exciting ways.

Surviving Society Podcast

Royal Geographical Society Podcast

Big data and digital technology are changing cities around the world – but are these new urban futures inclusive, or exclusionary? In this podcast we hear Dr Ayona Datta, Reader in Urban Futures at Kings College London discuss her research on India’s smart cities.